Archive For The “Uncategorized” Category

New Sketches: Early Vermont Settlers, 1700-1784

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“A map of the state of Vermont”
Whitelaw, James; Callender, Benjamin, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Today we’ve added 20 new and updated sketches to Early Vermont Settlers, 1700-1784. The people profiled in these sketches lived in Vernon, Dummerston, Brattleboro, and Fort Dummer.

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 and updated sketches have been added:

Bridgman, John (Vernon)

Bridgman, Orlando (Vernon)

Bridgman, Orlando, Jr. (Vernon)

Coulvel, Daniel (Vernon)

Elmer, Jacob (Vernon)

Foster, Nathaniel (Vernon)

Frizzell, Reuben (Vernon)

Frizzell, Samuel (Vernon)

Holton, Thomas (Vernon, Dummerston)

Hunt, Jonathan (Vernon)

King, William (Brattleboro)

Orvis, Samuel (Vernon)

Orvis, William (Vernon)

Partridge, Jasper (Brattleboro, Guilford)

Patterson, Eleazer (Vernon, Brattleboro)

Patterson, Jonathan (Vernon, Brattleboro)

Prindle, Nathan (Vernon)

Sargent, Daniel (Vernon, Dummerston)

Sargent, John (Fort Dummer)

Sargent, Rufus (Vernon, Dummerston)

Please note: This database is available to Individual-level and above NEHGS members only. Consider membership.

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New Sketches: Boston Tea Party Biographies

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Boston Tea Party – W.D. Cooper, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

We’re excited to announce 22 new sketches to our Boston Tea Party Participant Biographies database! All of the sketches included in this update are proven participants or eyewitnesses.

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.

Below is the list of new biographies for the following individuals:

Brewer, James (1742-1806) [Participant]

Burton, Benjamin (1749-1835) [Participant]

Cheever, Ezekiel (1720-1784) [Participant]

Crane, John (1744-1805) [Participant]

Decker, David (1719-1800) [Eyewitness]

Dickman, John (1750- 1833) [Participant]

Fulton, John (1733-1790) [Participant]

Gammell, John (1751-1828) [Participant]

Hewes, George Robert Twelves (1742-1840) [Participant]

Hooton, John (1754-1844) [Participant]

Horton, Elisha (1757-1837) [Participant]

Hunt, Abraham (1748-1793) [Participant]

Ingersol/Ingersoll/Ingoldson/Ingollson, Daniel (1751-1829) [Participant]

MacIntosh/McIntosh/Mackintosh, Ebenezer (1737-1817) [Participant]

McNeil, Archibald (1750-1840) [Participant]

Mead, (_____) [Participant]

Mellus, Henry (1756-1832) [Participant]

Miller, Aaron John (1749-1838) [Eyewitness]

Newell, Eliphalet (1735-1813) [Participant]

Purkitt/Purkett, Henry (1755-1846) [Participant]

Rice, Benjamin (1722-1796) [Participant]

Simpson, Benjamin (1755-1849) [Participant]

More sketches will be released soon, so stay tuned for more!

Please note: This database is available to all NEHGS members, including Guest Members, at no cost. Consider membership.

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New Database: American Offshore Whaling Crew Lists 1799-1927

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We are excited to announce that we have added a new database: American Offshore Whaling Crew Lists, 1799-1927 to our collection. This database is comprised of 6082 names and records and is searchable for given names and surnames, and includes port and voyage information.

This database includes information about all known American offshore (or “pelagic”) whaling voyages from the 1700s to the 1920s. The voyages included in the database sailed from, or were under the registry of, what is now the United States. A voyage was defined to be complete when the vessel returned to its port of departure or registry. This database includes crew lists from four New England ports: Fall River, MA, New Bedford, MA, Salem, MA, and New London, CT.

This database is the result of a partnership with the New Bedford Whaling Museum, Mystic Seaport Museum, and the Nantucket Historical Association. Their joint work on whaling history can be found here

Please Note: This database is available to all NEHGS members, including Guest members, at no cost. Consider membership.

If you are interested in volunteering, please contact our Database Volunteer Coordinator, Zobeida, at zobeida.chaffee-valdes@nehgs.org.

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Nine New Volumes of the General Society of Colonial Wars Membership Applications, 1893-1949

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Photo of the Color Guard of the Sons of the Society of Colonial Wars and the 9th and 7th regiments, N.Y.N.G., parading in New York City, 1918. (Image courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration, Washington D.C.)

We have added nine new volumes to our General Society of Colonial Wars Membership Applications, 1893-1949 database. These volumes include application numbers 5265-6929 and contain 232,422 records, 549,876 names, and 20,680 pages. This database is searchable for given names and surnames, and includes records for provided births, baptisms, marriages, deaths and burials listed for persons in the line of eligibility for membership on the application forms.

This database will eventually include all original and supplemental applications to the General Society of Colonial Wars starting from their formal founding in 1893, and currently includes applications 1-5264. Material is not included, however, for individuals listed in the applications who were born after January 1, 1950. If an application in the current range is excluded, it is either due to the privacy policy, or it has been deemed as missing from the archive.

This database was created through a partnership of the General Society of Colonial Wars and American Ancestors.  The Society of Colonial Wars was founded in New York in 1892 (the General Society was founded a year later in 1893) for the purpose of furthering the interest in, and study of, America’s Colonial history for the period between the settlement of Jamestown, Virginia on May 13, 1607 and the battle of Lexington on April 19, 1775.

Through the years, the General Society of Colonial Wars has established a large network of Colonial War descendants all over the United States. For more information about this society, visit the General Society of Colonial Wars webpage here.

Please note: This database is available to Individual-level and above NEHGS members only. Consider membership.

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Portsmouth, NH: School Records, 1846-1958

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List of nicknames in High Street Primary General Attendance, 1863-1876

We are excited to announce that we have added 100 volumes of school records to our database, Portsmouth, NH: School Records, 1846-1958. This database is the result of a partnership between the Portsmouth Athenaeum and NEHGS, and it is full of interesting surprises that can help paint a picture about the students’ lives.

In addition to birth dates, parents, and residences, you can also find the nicknames, deaths, doodles, course plans and books, notes about major events, staff, children running away, the weather, pranks, and punishments, including one about a child who put cayenne pepper in the stove! When complete, this database will have 597 volumes. This addition includes 100 volumes from the following schools: Atlantic Heights, Bartlett, Cabot, Farragut, Franklin, Hanover, Haven, High Street Primary, Jones, Lafayette, Manning, New Franklin, Peabody, Portsmouth High, and Whipple.

The Portsmouth Athenaeum maintains a library of over 40,000 volumes and has held the city’s historic school records since 1991.

The records included in this database are now housed in the collections of Portsmouth Public Library.


We thank the volunteers who have made this database possible! If you are interested in volunteering, please contact our Database Volunteer Coordinator, Zobeida, at zobeida.chaffee-valdes@nehgs.org.

Please note: This database is available to Individual-level and above NEHGS members only. Consider membership.

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Ten New Volumes of the General Society of Colonial Wars Membership Applications, 1893-1949

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Photo of the Color Guard of the Sons of the Society of Colonial Wars and the 9th and 7th regiments, N.Y.N.G., parading in New York City, 1918. (Image courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration, Washington D.C.)

Today we have added ten new volumes to our General Society of Colonial Wars Membership Applications, 1893-1949 database. These volumes include application numbers 3640-5264 and contain 279,496 records, 655,852 names, and 26,402 pages. This database is searchable for given names and surnames, and includes records for provided births, baptisms, marriages, deaths and burials listed for persons in the line of eligibility for membership on the application forms.

This database will eventually include all original and supplemental applications to the General Society of Colonial Wars starting from their formal founding in 1893, and currently includes applications 1-5264. Material is not included, however, for individuals listed in the applications who were born after January 1, 1950. If an application in the current range is excluded, it is either due to the privacy policy, or it has been deemed as missing from the archive.

This database was created through a partnership of the General Society of Colonial Wars and American Ancestors.  The Society of Colonial Wars was founded in New York in 1892 (the General Society was founded a year later in 1893) for the purpose of furthering the interest in, and study of, America’s Colonial history for the period between the settlement of Jamestown, Virginia on May 13, 1607 and the battle of Lexington on April 19, 1775.

Through the years, the General Society of Colonial Wars has established a large network of Colonial War descendants all over the United States. For more information about this society, visit the General Society of Colonial Wars webpage here.

Please note: This database is available to Individual-level and above NEHGS members only. Consider membership.

Read more »

Update: General Society of Colonial Wars Membership Applications, 1893-1949

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Photo of the Color Guard of the Sons of the Society of Colonial Wars and the 9th and 7th regiments, N.Y.N.G., parading in New York City, 1918. (Image courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration, Washington D.C.)

Today we have added five new volumes to our General Society of Colonial Wars Membership Applications, 1893-1949 database. These volumes include application numbers 2630-3469 and contain 136,367 records, 316,653 names, and 14,244 pages. This database is searchable for given names and surnames, and includes records for provided births, baptisms, marriages, deaths and burials listed for persons in the line of eligibility for membership on the application forms.

This database will eventually include all original and supplemental applications to the General Society of Colonial Wars starting from their formal founding in 1893, and currently includes applications 1-3469. Material is not included, however, for individuals listed in the applications who were born after January 1, 1950. If an application in the current range is excluded, it is either due to the privacy policy, or it has been deemed as missing from the archive.

This database was created through a partnership of the General Society of Colonial Wars and American Ancestors.  The Society of Colonial Wars was founded in New York in 1892 (the General Society was founded a year later in 1893) for the purpose of furthering the interest in, and study of, America’s Colonial history for the period between the settlement of Jamestown, Virginia on May 13, 1607 and the battle of Lexington on April 19, 1775.

Through the years, the General Society of Colonial Wars has established a large network of Colonial War descendants all over the United States. For more information about this society, visit the General Society of Colonial Wars webpage here.

This update is made possible by the efforts of our volunteer, Sam Sturgis. If you would like to get involved in the database digitization and indexing process, please contact Rachel Adams, Database Services Volunteer Coordinator, at rachel.adams@nehgs.org.

Please note: This database is available to Individual-level and above NEHGS members only. Consider membership.

Read more »

Update: New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 176

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Cover of Vol. 176, No. 1

We have added Volume 176 to our New England Historical and Genealogical Register database. This update contains the 2022 Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall issues, and it adds 502 pages, 8,798 records, and 8,675 searchable names.

Published quarterly since 1847, the New England Historical and Genealogical Register is the flagship journal of American genealogy and the oldest journal in the field. The Register has featured articles on a wide variety of topics since its inception, including vital records, church records, tax records, land and probate records, cemetery transcriptions, obituaries, and historical essays. Authoritative compiled genealogies have been the centerpiece of the Register for more than 150 years. Thousands of New England families have been treated in the pages of the journal and many more are referenced in incidental ways throughout. These articles may range from short pieces correcting errors in print or solving unusual problems to larger treatments that reveal family origins or present multiple generations of a family.

The indexing for these records includes full names, publication year (not the year of the record), and article titles, and authors.

This update is made possible by the efforts of our volunteers David Anderson and Sam Sturgis. If you would like to get involved in the database digitization and indexing process, please contact Rachel Adams, Database Services Volunteer Coordinator, at rachel.adams@nehgs.org.

The entire run of New England Historical and Genealogical Register is available in our research library, call number F1.N56.

Please note: This database is available to all NEHGS members, including Guest members, at no cost. Consider membership.

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Update: Mayflower Descendant, Volume 70

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Mayflower in Plymouth Harbor, William Halsall, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

We are happy to announce that we have added Volume 70 (2022) to the Mayflower Descendant database. This update adds 224 pages, 4,488 records, and 4,435 searchable names.

The Mayflower Descendant was originally published by the Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants starting in 1899. In 2015, New England Historic Genealogical Society assumed stewardship of the venerable journal. It is an essential source of information on many New England families, and its focus is not limited to those with Mayflower lineage. The journal includes transcriptions and abstracts of deeds, wills, vital records, and other original documents. In addition, it features compiled genealogies and analytical studies of genealogical problems.

The indexing for these records includes full names, publication year (not the year of the record), and article titles, and authors.

This update is made possible by the efforts of our volunteers David Anderson and Sam Sturgis. If you would like to get involved in the digitization and indexing process, please contact Rachel Adams, Database Services Volunteer Coordinator, at rachel.adams@nehgs.org.

Please note: This database is available to Individual-level and above NEHGS members only. Consider membership.

Read more »

Update: Rhode Island Roots, Volumes 43-45

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Providence, Rhode Island, 1858; John Badger Bachelder (1825-1894). Publisher: W. Endicott & Co., New York, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

We are happy to announce that we’ve added Volumes 43-45 (2017-2019) to our database Rhode Island Roots. This update adds 772 pages, 7,046 records, and 6,869 names.

The Rhode Island Genealogical Society publishes Rhode Island Roots quarterly. It features many Rhode Island records, such as cemetery and tax lists, General Assembly petitions, civil and military records, and genealogical articles — all focusing on Rhode Island families. Other features include articles about Rhode Islanders in other state census records, queries and a list of RI research volunteers. The authors include well-known genealogists as well as RIGS members with stories of their own families to tell.

The indexing for these records includes full names, publication year (not the year of the record), and article titles and authors.

This update is made possible by the efforts of our volunteers David Anderson and Sam Sturgis.

The entire run of Rhode Island Roots is available at the NEHGS Boston research library, call number F78 .R2.

Please Note: This database is available to all NEHGS members, including Guest members, at no cost. Consider membership.

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