Author Archive
In commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, we are please to announce a new database: New York: Fort Ticonderoga. This database contains 11,094 names across 10,400 records and was made possible through our collaboration with Fort Ticonderoga, the site of America’s first offensive victory during the American Revolution.
Founded in 1909, Fort Ticonderoga has for over a century been a leader in preserving objects related to military culture from North America in the “long 18th century” (1609-1815). Fort Ticonderoga’s collections are a singular resource in the study of the evolving role of subject, citizen, and soldier in the 18th century—a debate that links past to present and can inform the future. Fort Ticonderoga explores these relationships through the physical remains of the events that occurred on the site and the expansive collections that document the broader military experience and heritage of our founding era. The collections are distinct in that they comprehensively speak to the changing role of subject, citizen and soldier in society. Fort Ticonderoga’s collections encompass British, European, Native Nations, and African stories that show the complexities of a shared Atlantic history.
This database was created in partnership with Fort Ticonderoga as a research tool to help genealogists find their ancestors in the museum’s online collections as we commemorate the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution. We thank Fort Ticonderoga for their partnership and support.
This database is available to Individual-level and above American Ancestors members only. Consider membership.
Bird’s eye view of the city of Charleston, South Carolina 1872, Drie, C. N., Wikimedia Commons
We are excited to announce a new database: South Carolina: Slave Mortgage Records, 1734-1864. This database adds 137,170 names and 137,195 records to the 10 Million Names Project.
A slave mortgage was a financial tool that allowed lenders to extend credit based on the value of enslaved people. It adapted conventional finance to meet the needs of the slave economy. Two forms of slave mortgages were identified by Robyn N. Smith: one where a slaveholder made a down payment for a slave and paid the balance over time, and one in which a slaveholder used existing enslaved people as collateral for loans. The grantor of the mortgage could be a commercial bank, individual, or trust; the grantee was usually the slaveholder.
The collection includes volume-by-volume indexes to the mortgage documents by the grantor’s and grantee’s first and last names. These are typically the first set of records in each volume and are all of record type “Record.” The actual mortgage records are all of record type “Mortgage.” The location of all records is “South Carolina, United States.” No town or city information is available. These records are documented and held by South Carolina’s Secretary of State.
The location of all records is “South Carolina, United States.” No town or city information is available.
Additional information on the subject is available here:
Wikipedia: Slave Mortgage.
Robyn N. Smith, Reclaimingkin.com: Slave Mortgages.
GW Today – How Banks Played a Role in Upholding Slavery During the 19th Century.
This database is presented in partnership with FamilySearch as part of the 10 Million Names Project and is also searchable at FamilySearch.org: South Carolina Secretary of State, Slave Mortgage Records, 1734-1859.
This database was made possible with the help of our long-time volunteer, Sam Sturgis. We greatly appreciate all of his hard work on this project! If you are interested in volunteering for the 10 Million Names Project, please contact our 10 Million Names Volunteer Manager, Danielle Rose, at Danielle.Rose@americanancestors.org.
Please note: This database is available to all American Ancestors members, including Guest Members, at no cost. Consider membership.
Infantrymen of Co. “I” await the word to advance in pursuit of retreating Japanese forces during World War II. This photo was taken at Stepping Stone Island on the Vella Lavella Island Front, Southwest Pacific. (13 Sep 43) Signal Corps Photo: 161-43-4081 (Schuman), Wikimedia Commons
We are excited to announce a new database today! United States: World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946. This database contains 9,038,855 records and names documenting men and women who enlisted in the United States Army during the years surrounding World War II. The records include members of the Army as well as the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC). These records were originally created by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and shared with American Ancestors through FamilySearch.
The database consists of standalone records and does not include images, volumes, or page references.
According to NARA, this series contains records for approximately nine million men and women who enlisted in the United States Army between roughly 1938 and 1946. While the collection is not complete and does not include Navy or Marine Corps personnel, it represents the majority of Army enlistments during the World War II era.
NARA notes that a comparison of a random sample of electronic records with the original microfilmed punch cards found relatively few errors in names and serial numbers. As the nation’s archives, NARA preserves records in their original form and does not alter or correct information contained in accessioned records, even when inaccuracies are identified.
These records can provide valuable information about an individual’s military service, residence at the time of enlistment, birth year, and Army serial number, making them a useful resource for family historians researching relatives who served during World War II. Researchers interested in learning more about the records may consult NARA’s documentation regarding the World War II Army Enlistment Records and related frequently asked questions. The collection is also searchable through FamilySearch as United States, World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938–1946.
This collection was originally created by the National Archives and Records Administration in 2002. This database is presented in partnership with Family Search
And most importantly, this database was made possible with the help of our long-time volunteer, Sam Sturgis! We greatly appreciate all of his hard work on this project!
Please note: This database is available to all American Ancestors members, including Guest Members, at no cost. Consider membership.
Today we have added three new sketches and one updated sketch to Early Vermont Settlers, 1700-1784. The people profiled in these sketches lived in Cavendish, Guilford, Plymouth, and Stowe.
These sketches were created by Scott Andrew Bartley, who is researching the heads of families who lived in Vermont prior to the Revolutionary War. His study project is not only identifying those who sought better lives on the frontier, but is also illustrating major players on the political and religious fronts and uncovering regional migration patterns for this period.
The following new sketches have been added:
Cutler, Silas (Guilford, Plymouth, Stowe)
The following sketch has been updated:
This database is available to Individual-level and above American Ancestors members only. Consider membership.
We are happy to announce that we have added volumes 12-14 to the Dutchess County, NY: The Settlers of the Beekman Patent database. This series of books is an invaluable resource for researching the early settlers of Dutchess county, New York. These volumes add 54,178 names, 54,642 records, and 3,370 pages to the database.
Please note that this database has a name only index, derived from the book index itself. Search terms should be focused on first and last names. You may select a specific volume to restrict your search results. The printed index is also available at the end of this volumes.
The Settlers of the Beekman Patent series, by Frank J. Doherty, contains data on over thirteen hundred families who settled in the Beekman Patent, an original land grant given to Col. Henry Beekman in 1697 by the English Crown and the second largest patent in present-day Dutchess County, New York. Many emigrants from New England lived in and passed through the Beekman Patent on their way west. Others, such as the Palatines and Quakers (almost all from New England), were early settlers and remained for several generations or more. Mr. Doherty has published a total of 14 volumes in this series, we are now adding volume 12-14 in accordance with our agreement to make them available as searchable database after 7 years have passed.
Please note: This database is available to Individual-level and above American Ancestors members only. Consider membership.
A New Map of Part of the United States of North America, Containing those of New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. John Cary, 1806, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
We are excited to share that we have published a new database, New Jersey and Pennsylvania: Slave Birth Records, 1788-1839. This valuable database adds 3,585 names and 3,035 records to the 10 Million Names Project.
Both New Jersey and Pennsylvania passed gradual abolition acts—New Jersey in 1804 and Pennsylvania in 1780. Afterwards, both states began recording the names of enslaved people. This database includes records for Bergen, Essex, Middlesex, and Sussex Counties in New Jersey and Centre, Cumberland, Fayette, and Lancaster counties in Pennsylvania.
This database is presented in partnership with Family Search as part of the 10 Million Names Project, which aims to recover and restore the names of the estimated 10 million women, men, and children of African descent who were enslaved in the U.S. prior to 1865.
This database was made possible with the help of our long-time volunteer, Sam Sturgis. We greatly appreciate all of his hard work on this project! If you are interested in volunteering for the 10 Million Names Project, please contact our 10 Million Names Volunteer Manager, Danielle Rose, at Danielle.Rose@americanancestors.org.
Please note: This database is available to all American Ancestors members, including Guest Members, at no cost. Consider membership.
We are excited to share that we have published a new database, United States: Indenture and Manumission Records, 1780-1939. This database adds 36,980 records and 28,740 names to the 10 Million Names Project.
This collection contains records of indentures, apprenticeships, and manumissions from certain counties in Alabama, District of Columbia, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. These records include the name of the individual and usually the name of the indenture holder or enslaver. Records also include age, sex, and race.
Localities:
Indentures & Apprenticeships
- Georgia: Monroe, Morgan and Taliaferro Counties
- Kentucky: Allen, Anderson, Barren, Bracken, Caldwell, Carlisle, Fulton, Hickman, Livingston, Lyon, Marshall, McLean, Muhlenberg, Nicholas, Ohio, Taylor, Todd, Trimble, Spencer, and Woodford Counties
- Maryland: Worcester County
- Mississippi: Lowndes, and Wilkinson Counties
- North Carolina: Bertie, Buncombe, Camden, Chatham, Chowan, Craven, Davie, Duplin, Forsyth, Gates, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Randolph, Wayne, Wilson and Yadkin Counties
- South Carolina: Charleston
- Virginia: Accomack and Surry Counties
Manumissions
- Alabama: Mobile County
- Georgia: Taliaferro County
- Indiana: Knox County
- Kentucky: Butler, and Hickman Counties
- Louisiana: Orleans Parish
- Maryland: Carroll County
- Mississippi: Lowndes, Wilkinson Counties
- New Jersey: Essex, Gloucester, Middlesex, Salem, Sussex and Woodbury Counties
- North Carolina: Orange County
- Ohio: Greene, Logan and Miami Counties
- Pennsylvania: Philadelphia (Pennsylvania Abolition Society) and Darby, Delaware County
- Virginia: Accomack and Surry Counties
This database was made possible with the help of our long-time volunteer, Sam Sturgis. We greatly appreciate all of his hard work on this project! If you are interested in volunteering for the 10 Million Names Project, please contact our 10 Million Names Volunteer Manager, Danielle Rose, at Danielle.Rose@americanancestors.org.
Please note: This database is available to all American Ancestors members, including Guest Members, at no cost. Consider membership.
We’ve added four new sketches to Early Vermont Settlers, 1700-1784. The people profiled in these sketches lived in Guilford, Halifax, and Springfield.
These sketches were created by Scott Andrew Bartley, who is researching the heads of families who lived in Vermont prior to the Revolutionary War. His study project is not only identifying those who sought better lives on the frontier, but is also illustrating major players on the political and religious fronts and uncovering regional migration patterns for this period.
The following new sketches have been added:
Carpenter, Nathaniel (Guilford)
Cutler, Joel (Guilford, Halifax)
This database is available to Individual-level and above American Ancestors members only. Consider membership.
We have added one new sketch, Prentiss/Prentice, Nathaniel (1743-1817) [Eyewitness], and one updated sketch, Ridgeway/Ridgway, Isaac (1758-1842) [Participant], to the Boston Tea Party Participant Biographies.
The goal of this project is to create comprehensive biographical sketches for all individuals associated with or known to have participated in the Boston Tea Party, which took place on December 16, 1773 in Boston Harbor. This project is launched in conjunction with the announcement of the Boston Tea Party Descendants Program, a new lineage society for those whose ancestors participated in the historic revolutionary event. This project, as well as the Descendants Program, are both in collaboration with the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum. You can learn more about the Boston Tea Party Descendants Program here.
This database is available to all American Ancestors members, including Guest Members, at no cost. Consider membership.
We are excited to announce the publication of a new database, South Carolina: Charleston County Slave Bills of Sale, 1774-1872, which adds 258,913 names and 258,944 records to the 10 Million Names Project.
The database includes bills of sale for enslaved people from official Charleston County, South Carolina court records. The records are indexed by first and last names. The names of both the enslaver and enslaved are included. The majority of the enslaved persons do not have last names, making the enslaver’s last name an important clue for researching.
This database is presented in partnership with Family Search as part of the 10 Million Names Project, which aims to recover and restore the names of the estimated 10 million women, men, and children of African descent who were enslaved in the U.S. prior to 1865.
This database was made possible with the help of our long-time volunteer, Sam Sturgis. We greatly appreciate all of his hard work on this project! If you are interested in volunteering for the 10 Million Names Project, please contact our 10 Million Names Volunteer Manager, Danielle Rose, at Danielle.Rose@americanancestors.org.
Please note: This database is available to all American Ancestors members, including Guest Members, at no cost. Consider membership.