If you watched the 2024 Summer Olympics, you’re probably familiar with one of the U.S. team’s rising stars: “Pommel Horse Guy,” aka “The Specialist,” aka Stephen Nedoroscik. Nedoroscik, a Worcester, Massachusetts, native is a ringer on the U.S. Men’s Gymnastics Team and a Dancing with the Stars competitor. We explored Nedoroscik’s Massachusetts roots and discovered some interesting international connections along the way.
Safeguarding History: Trailblazing Adventures Inside the Worlds of Collecting and Forging History with Kenneth Rendell
Kenneth Rendell is one of the world’s preeminent dealers in historical documents, manuscripts, and artifacts. Chief Genealogist David Allen Lambert will moderate an in-depth conversation with Rendell, the man Doris Kearns Goodwin called “the Indiana Jones of the collecting world.” 10% Member Discount. Register Now
Free Resource
Proving Your Mayflower Ancestry Guide
In September of 1620, 102 passengers—men, women, and children—and a crew of approximately 30 left England aboard the Mayflower. While nearly half of the passengers who arrived on the shores of Massachusetts died during the first winter, 26 Mayflower families are known to have left descendants. An estimated 35 million people can trace their ancestry to the Mayflower. Are you among them? Use this guide to search your ancestry for Mayflower connections. Download Now
Coming in November!
In Search of Mayflower Pilgrim James Chilton of Canterbury by Sue Allan
In this latest book in her popular “In Search of” series, Mayflower Pilgrim historian Sue Allan uses her first-hand knowledge of James Chilton’s home county of Kent to pinpoint his house at Canterbury and reconstruct the life of the man and his family. Sign up today to be notified of the release date. Learn More
The Weekly Genealogist Survey
This Week's Survey:
Physical Characteristics That Run in Your 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.
12%, I often work very closely with others on my genealogical research.
47%, I sometimes work with others on my genealogical research.
34%, I rarely work with others on my genealogical research.
8%, I never work with others on my genealogical research.
Readers Respond
Charlie Bass, Corpus Christi, Texas: After working independently on my family's history for years, I reached out to a cousin for help. She provided me with a great deal of information. She also shared a 100-year-old photo of four generations of my ancestors, including my grandfather at the age of four. Contacting cousins is now a regular part of my research!
Amanda Sherwin, St. Louis, Missouri: The name of one of my third great-grandmothers was a long-standing mystery in my family. DNA matches enabled me to identify a potential family line, and I discovered that one of my third cousins had spent sixty years researching that family. Together, we confirmed the identity of our elusive ancestor. Sarah Turnbaugh was born in 1795 in Kentucky, married in Tennesse, and died in 1847 in Missouri. She now has a name and a place in our family history.
Gale Kane, Bartlesville, Oklahoma: Almost thirty years ago, I contacted a distant cousin for help with my family history research. Louise (Pullen) Neidermaier was in her 90s at the time. She was happy to share her extensive research, all thoroughly and expertly documented. She recommended that I look to lineage societies as a source for verified information, and today I belong to around twenty. I follow my friend’s teachings by carefully sourcing and documenting my findings, and I follow her example by sharing my work with others. I enjoy helping other researchers, and I have found that this open attitude often leads to profitable collaborations.
Nancy A. Ratner, Estero, Florida: I have been a member of the Mayflower Society in Florida for more than ten years. During my time as Historian, I had the honor of helping to process at least twenty applications. In my current role as Junior Chair, I help our juniors to become full members of the General Society of Mayflower Descendants. In my free time, I help my friends with their genealogical research. While assisting one of my best friends trace her lineage, I discovered that we are both descended from Pilgrim Richard Warren.
Blinkered Blunders Paul Jones of Canada’s History magazine’s Roots column writes about how “most errors in family history research arise from impatience.”
In the Stereoscope, Another World “Developed in the nineteenth century, the stereoscope gave people a new way of seeing themselves and the world around them.”
Spotlight: Newspaper Database: Paulding County Carnegie Library, Ohio
by Valerie Beaudrault
Paulding County, seated in the village of Paulding, is located in northwestern Ohio. The Paulding County Carnegie Library has made a newspaper database available in its Online Newspaper Archive. The collection comprises nearly 228,000 pages from twenty-two newspapers including Paulding Progress (1949-2016), Paulding County Progress (1987-2014), Paulding Democrat (1874-1949), Payne Reflector and Press Review (1903-1967), Antwerp Bee Argus (1914-2001), Oakwood News (1915-1982), and Paulding County Republican (1888-1949). Digitized school yearbooks (1916-2014) are also part of the collection. The database can be searched by keyword or browsed. Search Now
Database News
AM Explorer: Early Modern England: Society, Culture & Everyday Life, 1500-1700
This collection offers rare and invaluable sources for examining the lived experience of people who witnessed this pivotal era of English history. From "ordinary" people as well as more prominent individuals and families, these documents show how everyday working, family, religious, and administrative life was experienced across England. You must be logged into your American Ancestors account to view this collection. Search Now
Our expert staff is available six days a week through our Ask a Genealogist online chat! Do you have questions about how to get started with genealogical research or where to locate a particular record? Stumped on border changes in a particular town or how to access an online database? We are here to help! Learn More
