NEHGS Opens Family History Attraction in Boston

 I received this information from American Ancestors today:

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Family History Attraction to Open in Boston

	The Family Heritage Experience, a permanent exhibition that explores the connections between us and our ancestors, opens to the public on April 25 in Boston’s Back Bay   American Ancestors®, the country’s oldest nonprofit genealogical organization, celebrates its 180th year by launching a new public space dedicated to the joy of family history

	BOSTON, MA, Issued March 26, 2025... The Family Heritage Experience, a state-of-the-art exhibition designed to inspire visitors to reflect on their family history and cultural heritage, opens to the public on April 25 in a newly renovated building at 97 Newbury Street in Boston, Massachusetts. A self-guided tour of interactive exhibits, unique family history artifacts, and original artworks, the Family Heritage Experience invites visitors to ponder questions about their own family’s origins, journeys, and cultural traditions, and to learn ways to discover more about their ancestry.  Doors open to the public on Friday, April 25, at 10 a.m., after which the Family Heritage Experience will be open every Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission is $10 for adults and free for children up to age 11. Designed to spark curiosity in adults, teens, and school-aged children, the Family Heritage Experience is especially suited to multi-generational family groups.  Visit fhe.americanancestors.org for more information.

		The Family Heritage Experience is located at 97 Newbury Street, two blocks from the Boston Public Garden and close to Copley Square, in the heart of Boston’s historic Back Bay neighborhood. The exhibition takes up the entire first floor of the American Ancestors building complex, which is home to seven other floors dedicated to family history, including an archive and research library that is open to the public.     “Most people are interested in knowing their family’s story, but recent studies show that nearly half of adult Americans can’t name all their grandparents. Our hope is that a visit to the Family Heritage Experience will inspire people to learn their origin story—ask who their ancestors were, what kind of lives they led, and what events and circumstances influenced their lives. This is quite unlike other museums or attractions because this permanent exhibit sparks a deeply personal journey that’s also universal,” said Ryan Woods, President and CEO of American Ancestors, the 180-year-old nonprofit organization behind the Family Heritage Experience.

	The multi-structure building complex that houses the Family Heritage Experience will be named after American philanthropist and preservationist Thomas Bailey Hagen and Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr.  Gates has made family history research familiar to millions of Americans through his popular PBS show “Finding Your Roots,” which features celebrities learning dramatic accounts of their ancestry. American Ancestors has worked with “Finding Your Roots” since it first aired in 2012.    “Researching family trees has been a passion in my life since I was nine years old, and I am thrilled to know the desire to learn about the past through the roots and branches of one’s own ancestry will now be greatly facilitated through the Family Heritage Experience in Boston,” said Dr. Gates. “It is difficult to imagine a greater honor in my career and I look forward to the luminous discoveries that will be made at this landmark visitor center in the city I love and where I have lived and taught for over half of my professional life. May the joys of genealogy seeded here continue to flower throughout the generations.”

	From the moment they walk in the door, visitors engage with exhibits that explore themes of personal identity, the creation of family lore, and the almost universal desire to leave a record of one’s existence.  An early highlight of the self-guided tour is the “Wall of Questions,” which encourages visitors to ponder their ancestors’ life experiences by selecting cards printed with common family history-related queries such as “How did my grandparents meet?” “What kind of clothes did my ancestor wear?” and “I heard a family legend––is it true?”    On display are objects that various cultures and individuals have used to preserve family history, such as an intricate shell-beaded belt from the local Wampanoag nation, a patchwork quilt depicting scenes from African American family experiences over centuries, photographs and items that document Jewish traditions, and artistic renditions of Anglo-American family trees from the 19th century. Other exhibits allow visitors to explore events that took place the year they were born, learn how DNA test results shed light on genealogy, and listen to the family history research journeys of people from diverse backgrounds.   Woven into the exhibition are several original artworks that were commissioned for the space, which echo themes of memory, reflection, and individuality by a diverse group of local and national artists, including Yuko Okabe, Pamela Hersch, Sisters In Stitches Joined By The Cloth, and Fred H.C. Liang.   “The Family Heritage Experience really showcases why family history is interesting and fun. This is a no-pressure space. You don’t need to know the details of your family tree or anything about your family’s origins to enjoy your visit. You will leave knowing how to find out more as you start your adventure of looking into your past,” said Jennifer Zanolli, Family Heritage Experience manager.   Toward the end of the self-guided tour, visitors can learn more about ways to begin researching their own ancestors using vital records and other family history documents. A spacious rotunda welcomes visitors to relax on sofas and chairs and reflect on their past while viewing artistic interpretations of ancestral images via a colorful ceiling projection.   “After four years of planning, and two years of almost non-stop construction, we are delighted to welcome the public into the Family Heritage Experience and our new facilities this spring,” said David Trebing, American Ancestors’ Board chair. “American Ancestors has been helping people uncover their family history for 180 years, but the Family Heritage Experience marks a new phase in our evolution by creating a modern, dynamic, inviting space where people can enjoy learning about the one thing we all have in common: family.”

	Exhibit Highlights  Who in the World Are You?    Visitors use iPads to place digital pins in an interactive 15-foot world map indicating where their ancestors originated, creating a compelling visual of journeys and migrations, accumulating as each guest passes through.   Wall of Questions   This exhibit features rows of 90 colorful cards with curious questions about family history. Visitors can choose one or more cards that resonate with them and scan the QR code on the back to find out how to answer the questions at an answer station kiosk.

		Family Treasures Vault   Step into this brightly lit chamber displaying an eclectic collection of historic objects that document family history, representing diverse cultures, traditions, and spanning many different time periods.   Your Name, Your Year   An interactive, screen-based exhibit that lists the popular films, songs, sporting events, and trivia for the year visitors were born, and ranks popularity of a visitor’s surname.   Story Station   A dedicated space in which visitors can listen to audio recordings by people of all backgrounds narrating their family history discoveries.   Research & Records   An interactive, educational exhibit that teaches visitors how to find the answers to their family history questions using vital records and other documents.

	Other Spaces at American Ancestors  In addition to the Family Heritage Experience, American Ancestors is home to several other public spaces dedicated to the preservation and study of genealogy, history, heritage, and culture, including:   The Wyner Family Jewish Heritage Center preserves New England Jewish history and heritage and advances the understanding of the American Jewish experience through archives, educational programs, scholarship, and public events.    The Brim-DeForest Library, made possible through the generosity of Brady Brim-DeForest and his family, is a historic space where members and the public can explore their family heritage through an extensive collection of books, maps, manuscripts, and digital resources.     The Brue Family Learning Center is dedicated to introducing family and local history to national and international audiences. Founded by Nord and Suzanne Brue, the Center supports the creation of programming aimed at helping anyone start or advance their family history journey.    Supported by a gift from Judy Avery and her family, the R. Stanton Avery Special Collections is one of the world’s leading collections of family history materials, containing more than one million manuscripts, photographs, handwritten and typed family histories and charts, material with vital statistic data (such as town, church, and cemetery records), genealogical papers, family association collections, and original primary source documents.   Project and Donor Support   The newly redesigned space, which connects the interiors of two historic buildings at 97 Newbury Street, was designed by architects Schwartz & Silver and built by Shawmut Design and Construction, with exhibition design by the Experience Alchemists.   American Ancestors is indebted to the donors whose contributions made the Family Heritage Experience possible, including Thomas Hagen, Brenda Johnson, Jonathan Treat, Kathleen & Peter Van Demark, Joan & Ernst Berndt, Helen Condon Powell, Amelia Peabody Charitable Fund, Cheryl L. Edwards, Beverly H. Hamilton, and the Massachusetts Cultural Facilities Fund.  American Ancestors also thanks the many donors, members, and volunteers whose everyday contributions and dedication make its mission-based work possible.   Visitation and FAQ   The Family Heritage Experience and the gift shop on the first floor of American Ancestors at 97 Newbury Street, Boston, MA, will be open weekly Tuesday through Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.  The facility is located near Copley Square and the Arlington and Copley Green line T stations. For more information, including accessibility and amenities, please visit fhe.americanancestors.org.

	About the Family Heritage Experience     The Family Heritage Experience—an interactive, state-of-the-art exhibition that introduces visitors to the joy of family history research—was launched in 2025 by American Ancestors®, a national center for family history, heritage & culture. The Family Heritage Experience is located on the first floor of American Ancestors’ headquarters at 97 Newbury Street, in Boston, Massachusetts. For more information, visit fhe.americanancestors.org. About American Ancestors    American Ancestors® is a national nonprofit center for family history, heritage & culture based in Boston, Massachusetts that has been setting the gold standard for genealogical research since its founding in 1845. Today, American Ancestors serves 400K+ members and subscribers through AmericanAncestors.org, one of the world’s largest online collections of family history resources. In 2025, American Ancestors launched the Family Heritage Experience, an interactive, state-of-the-art exhibition that introduces visitors to the joy of family history research, located at 97 Newbury Street at our headquarters in Boston. American Ancestors is also home to the Wyner Family Jewish Heritage Center, which preserves New England’s Jewish history, and 10 Million Names, a project dedicated to finding the names of the enslaved men, women, and children in pre- and post-colonial America before emancipation.   For more information, visit americanancestors.org.

	Photos: Media recipients have permission to use photos on all media platforms, no limitations on use. American Ancestors is the owner of the rights to use the images.   Top Center: Inside the exhibit entrance, visitors ponder the purpose of their visit, and drop pins in the interactive 15' wide world map, image by Claire Vail/American Ancestors Top Left:  The entrance to the Family Heritage Experience is at American Ancestors' headquarters, on Back Bay's historic Newbury Street in Boston, image by Claire Vail/American Ancestors Middle Left: Guests explore the Family Treasures exhibit vault room, an eclectic collection of historic objects that document family history, image by Claire Vail/American Ancestors Middle Right: The Wall of Questions is the first phase of a two-part exhibit featuring 90 card disks posing curious questions about family history. Visitors scan cards at the answer station kiosk to continue their learning adventure, image by Claire Vail/American Ancestors Bottom Left:  A visitor takes a closer look at a family tree artifact in the Family Heritage Experience's Family Treasures collection, image by Claire Vail/American Ancestors ========================================== Disclosure: I am a paying member of American Ancestors for over 30 years and have benefited from their record collections, periodicals and education.   The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2025/03/received-this-information-from-american.html Copyright (c) 2025, Randall J. Seaver Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post. Share it on X, Facebook, or Pinterest using the icons below. Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.  Note that all comments are moderated, so they may not appear immediately. Subscribe to receive a free daily email from Genea-Musings using www.Blogtrottr.com.

American Ancestors / New England Historic Genealogical Society News

 I received the message below from American Ancestors/NEHGS President and CEO Brenton Simons today and thought my readers might be interested:

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Dear Friend,    Greetings! I write to you with important news from American Ancestors / New England Historic Genealogical Society.       In early September, I informed our Chair and Board of Trustees of my desire to remain on our staff but to step back from my longtime role as President and CEO in early 2024. After 18 years in the latter position and 30 years as a member of our staff, I felt ready to change my role at the Society to one which develops new scholarship, stewards key personal and institutional relationships, and enthusiastically supports my successor in reaching our ambitious goals and strategic vision.        Accordingly, I am happy to announce that I will become President Emeritus and Chief Stewardship Officer of the Society as of January 1, 2024. I am not retiring and expect to remain fully engaged as a member of the Society’s staff for years to come, and so this is not a farewell but rather a moment of healthy and positive transition. This model has a wonderful precedent at the Society. When my predecessor, Dr. Ralph J. Crandall, stepped back as the Society’s Executive Director 18 years ago, he transitioned into a role supporting me as the then-new President and CEO for eight highly productive years. So, that excellent example provided inspiration for the present transition.

Thank you for all your support not just as the organization’s President and CEO, but throughout my entire career at the Society dating back to 1993 (and even as a member since 1985!).

I am very proud of our accomplishments together, especially over the last 18 years, including our tremendous growth in online content (now with more than 1.4 billion names at AmericanAncestors.org), membership growth (now numbering almost 450,000 members and subscribers in 139 countries), our fundraising efforts (now in excess of $100 million just in this period), our new state-of-the-art annex presently under construction in Boston, our sponsorship of groundbreaking research projects such as The Great Migration to New England and 10 Million Names, our service to increasingly diverse populations, as well as youth education programs, outstanding books and journals, heritage tours, our continued involvement with Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. on PBS, and much more.   This is only a small sampling of what we have accomplished together. None of this could have been achieved without the steadfast support of loyal members everywhere, a professional and supremely dedicated staff, thousands of volunteers, generous donors, and a highly supportive Board of Trustees and Council. Please accept my heartfelt thanks.       It has been, and it will continue to be, my great pleasure and honor to meet and work with our members throughout the United States and abroad. As a devoted genealogist, I am happiest when I can help our constituents discover their roots with the best, most carefully vetted genealogical scholarship and historical resources in the field. For our constituents and the public at large, understanding their place in the great American story is an important service to our nation. It is my great privilege to be able to continue this work in a new role.       I could not be more pleased that the Board of Trustees has selected my colleague of 17 years, Ryan J. Woods, to succeed me as President and CEO. We are thrilled to have him step into the role and lead our beloved organization into the future.  You will be hearing more about Ryan and his vision for American Ancestors early next year.     In the meantime, I hope to see you soon and I wish you all the best in this special holiday season and in 2024!         With the greatest appreciation,

Brenton Simons OBE President and CEO

The New England Historic Genealogical Society and American Ancestors have been extremely useful to me in my genealogy and family history research.  I have been a subscriber since 1992 (I think) and have perused every issue of the NEHG Register and American Ancestors Magazine since then.  I visited the society location in Boston several times in the 1990s, and have enjoyed seeing Brenton and his staff members at genealogy conferences over the past fifteen years.  I also read their free weekly newsletter and look forward to it on Wednesday mornings.

The growth of the society, and its' holdings and digital record collections has been phenomenal over the past twenty years.  They have kept up with the digital revolution and with social media too - I watch their YouTube channel videos every so often, especially when they present new features and collections.  

To Brenton - THANK YOU for steering this magnificent genealogy "ship" so skillfully through the genealogy and family history times we live in!  

To Ryan - Good luck -- you have a big challenge to meet and big shoes to fill, but I know you and your staff are up to it!  

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Disclosure:  I have been a paid member of NEHGS ever since 1992 (I think) and have appreciated everything they have produced and provided in that time.  

The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2023/12/american-ancestors-new-england-historic.html

Copyright (c) 2023, Randall J. Seaver

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Saturday Night Genealogy Fun -- Best or Important Image or Document Recently Found Online

   It's Saturday Night - 

time for more Genealogy Fun! 

Your mission, should you decide to accept it (cue the Mission Impossible music here) is to:

1)  What is the best or important image or document that you have recently found online? [Thank you to Linda Stufflebean for suggesting topics!]

2)  Write your own blog post, or add your response as a comment to this blog post, in a Facebook Status post or note.

Here's mine:

I will assume that "recently" means in the past month or so.  

The only recent document or image I can think of is the article "The English Ancestry of Roger1 Willis of Dorchester and Sudbury, Massachusetts, and His Sister Mary Willis, Wife of William1  Peacock of Roxbury, Massachusetts, and of Samuel Shears of Dedham and Wrentham, Massachusetts" by Randy A. West.

This article is in Volume 176, number 2 (Spring 2022), page 179 of the New England Historical and  Genealogical Register.  It extends my Willis English ancestry back two more generations from 8th great-grandfather Roger Willis (1635-1700).

Once in awhile NEHGR or TAG (The American Genealogist) covers one of my ancestors in excellent detail based on original sources.  This is usually research that I cannot perform at this point in my life.  I download the article, peruse it, check some of the source citations if I can find them online, and add the new information to my RootsMagic family tree database.  In this case, this article extended my Willis line two more generations back from Roger Willis (1635-1700).  I subscribe to AmericanAncestors.org for that reason.

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The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2022/07/saturday-nght-genealogy-fun-best-or.html

Copyright (c) 2022, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Share it on Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

New England Historical and Genealogical Register - Summer 2021 Issue

 I downloaded my digital copy of the New England Historical and Genealogical Register (Volume 175, number 3, Summer 2021. Whole Number 699) today after receiving an email from NEHGS.

Here is the Table of Contents:

The Contents include:

page 195: Editorial

page 197: The First Generations of John Mills of Braintree, Massachusetts, and His Descendants, by Helen Schatvet Ullmann

page 207: William1 Woodbury of Salem and Beverly, Massachusetts, by David C. Dearborn and John Bradley Arthaud

page 223 The English Ancestry of Thomas1 Bell and His Sister Sarah (Bell) Meakins, Wife of Thomas2 Meakins of Roxbury, Massachusetts, by Clifford L. Stott

page 231: Notes on the Family of William1  Gager of Little Waldingfield, Suffolk, and Charlestown and Boston, Massachusetts, by Robert Battle

page 238: Rev. Joseph Gerrish’s Wenham, Massachusetts, Congregation: 1710 Communicants, by Nancy K. Stevens

page 241: The Second Wife of Moses Gile of Hampstead, New Hampshire: Which Mary Clark?, by Derek Doran Wood (concluded from 175:166)

page 247: The Colman and Cutler Ancestry of John1 Thorndike of Essex County, Massachusetts, with the Colman Ancestry of John1 Coggeshall, Muriel1 (Gurdon) Saltonstall, and Jemima1 (Waldegrave) Pelham, by Robert Battle (concluded from 175:192)

page 269: New England Articles in Genealogical Journals in 2019

page 283 Reviews of Books

The only article that has one of my ancestral families this quarter is the Colman and Cutler Ancestry article, which extends the English ancestry of my ancestor, John Cutler (1600-1637) whose family settled in Hingham, Massachusetts in the late 1630s.  

I have subscribed to the Register since about 1994, and have found numerous articles about my New England ancestral families over the entire 175 years of the Register.  American Ancestors has digitized, and indexed, all of the issues and they are available on the American Ancestors website for subscribers.  

I usually download the useful pages with my ancestral families and save them in my Surname and/or family folders on my computer.

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The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2021/09/new-england-historical-and-genealogical.html

Copyright (c) 2021, Randall J. Seaver

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Digitized Periodical Collections at American Ancestors

 The American Ancestors website of the New England Historic Genealogical Society has a number of digitized periodical magazines that contain significant articles of genealogy and family history value.  

Members of NEHGS can access these periodicals by searching for names on the American Ancestors website using the basic search form for all record collections, or by using the search form only for the "Journals and Periodicals" category.  In the "Journals and Periodicals" category, the member can choose a specific periodical run in order to browse a specific volume and a specific page from a list.  

The American Ancestors page for "Journals and Periodicals" describes the collections, with examples, as:

"This category contains periodic publications, from scholarly journals to excerpts from newspapers, to newsletters and magazines. Scholarly journals are excellent sources of genealogical and historical information. They include articles written by experts which are fully cited, sourced, and vetted before release. You can use the citations in a journal article to find even more information on your subject of research. Our newspaper collections contain contemporary vital information, while our magazines provide research tips from our experts.

"Watch our webinar, Searching Journals on AmericanAncestors.org for an in-depth tutorial on scholarly journals."

These digitized collections include only the issues that have been agreed to by the publisher of the periodical, so the collections are not complete - many have issues up to the last five years, but not the last five years.

The list of journals and periodicals that are available.

*  American Ancestors Journal

*  American Ancestors Magazine

*  American Genealogist, The

*  Boston Evening Transcript Genealogy Pages, 1911-1940

*  Boston Pilot Immigrant Advertisements (Search For Missing Friends, 1831-1920)

*  Connecticut Nutmegger

*  Essex Antiquarian

*  Essex Genealogist, The

*  Genealogical Advertiser, The

*  Maine Genealogist, The

*  Mayflower Descendant, The

*  Mayflower Quarterly, The

*  NEHGS NEXUS New England Across the United States

*  New England Ancestors Magazine

*  New Engliand Historial and Genealogical Register

*  New Hampshire Gazette: Newspaper Records, 1756-1769

*  New Netherlands Connection

*  New York Genealogical and Biographical Record

*  Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine

*  Rhode Island Roots

*  Vermont Genealogy

*  Virginia Genealogist, The

The basic American Ancestors search form looks like this:  

On the screen above, I selected "Journals and Periodicals" in the "Category" box.  I can then select a specific periodical from the "Database" field.

From the screen above, I selected the Rhode Island Roots" periodical, and selected Volume 41 of this periodical, as shown below:

I chose Page 1 for the Volume 41 to try to find the cover of the first issue of Volume 41:

Page 1 was the first page of an article.  By using the back arrow on the screen, I easily found the cover page with the table of contents of the issue:

I was interested in reading the 4th item on the Table of Contents of this issue.  I noted that it starts on page 30.  So I entered the number "30" in the "Page" field at the top right of the screen and hit "Enter."

Having found this article, I read it by advancing the page number using the forward and back arrows.  I could read the entire issue using this method.

But there are four issues in this Volume of 256 pages.  The user has to search for the next Table of contents for the following issue.  I usually go to the last page number on the Table of Contents I saw last, and then used the Forward page arrow to find the Table of Contents of the next issue.

The user can download each page of interest to the user and save them to their computer files for reference and sourcing purposes of the user.

I use these periodicals on a regular basis.  I have reviewed many of the issues that are available for the New England states, New York and Pennsylvania.  American Ancestors sends an email to the members whenever a new periodical, or a new volume of a periodical, is digitized and added to the website.  

Of course, a user has to be a member of the New England Historic Genealogical Society to be able to access these periodicals.  It is a benefit of membership in the Society.  Some libraries have subscribed and have access to these periodicals through their NEHGS library subscription.

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Disclosure:  I am a member of NEHGS and appreciate their digitization efforts to help genealogy researchers.  I have not received any remuneration from NEHGS at any time.

The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2021/01/digitized-periodical-collections-at.html

Copyright (c) 2021, Randall J. Seaver

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New England Historical and Genealogical Register - Fall 2020 Issue (Volume 174, no. 4) Table of Contents

 I now receive the New England Historical and Genealogical Register, published by the New England Historic Genealogical Society, on the online website AmericanAncestors.org.  It is much easier to read and I can save it in a file folder in digital format every quarter.  My challenge is to remember to capture it when each issue is released (AmericanAncestors does send me an email as a reminder).

The Table of Contents for the Fall 2020 Issue (Volume 174, number 4) is:

The only item that affected my family tree was the addition of Francis Dudley as a brother of governor Thomas Dudley.  Some of the other articles were interesting in terms of the records found and the methodology used to solve the question at hand.  How I wish I had in my ancestry  "Agnes Spencer, wife of Thomas Higginson of Berkeswell, Warwickshire, Ancestor of Nine American Immigrants, Cousin to Diana, Princess of Wales, Sir Winston Churchill, President George Washington, and Others."

Alas, it is not to be.  From the Summer 2020 edition, here is a descendants chart from Henry Spencer showing all of the relationships to Agnes (only the first page shown):

I perused this chart also - the descendants from the first Spencer and the American descendants of Agnes without finding one that is in my own ancestry.  I have other known lines to Calvin Coolidge, the two Bushes, Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Diana Spencer.

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Disclosure:  I have been a subscriber and member of the New England Historic Genealogical Society since 1994 (?) and make full use of their website and publications.  If you have early New England ancestry, this is a must-have website for you.

The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2020/12/new-england-historical-and-genealogical.html

Copyright (c) 2020, Randall J. Seaver

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Update on The Early New England Families (1641-1700) Study Project

 The New England Historical and Genealogical Society (www.AmericanAncestors.org) created the Early New England Families Study Project several years ago, and it has already produced two published volumes of biographical sketches of scores of New England families, with many more in work.  

You can access information about the study at   https://www.americanancestors.org/browse/publications/ongoing-study-projects/Early-New-England-Families,-1641--1700 (two screen shots below):

The web page notes:

The Early New England Families Study Project provides accurate and concise published summaries of seventeenth-century New England families. Using Clarence Almon Torrey's bibliographic index of early New England marriages and its recent successors as a guide, the project focuses on individuals who immigrated from 1641 through 1700, grouped by year of marriage.

Alicia Crane Williams is Lead Genealogist of the Early New England Families Study Project. In nearly forty years of work as a professional genealogist, she has compiled and edited number of multi-family genealogies and surname works and was editor of the Massachusetts Society of Mayflower descendants’ periodical, The Mayflower Descendant. She is the genealogist of the Alden Kindred of America and editor of the John Alden family for the General Society of Mayflower Descendants’ series, Mayflower Families Through Five Generations.

Search Early New England Families Study Project, 1641−1700 current sketches now.

Members: View a list of sketches in our database by browsing the database. Use the "Volume" menu to view and select a specific sketch.

Click here to download a pdf listing of all available sketches.

Purchase the paperback version of Volume 1.

Purchase the hardcover version of Volume 1.

Purchase the paperback version of Volume 2.

Purchase the hardcover version of Volume 2.

I downloaded the PDF listing of the 118 available sketches.  Here is the top of the list:

Here is the top of the sketch for one of my known ancestors, John Grout:

There are 8 pages in this sketch, including details about each spouse, land and property, community, military, court, occupation, personal, estate, children, and commentary (there may be other topics also depending on the circumstances of each subject).  Each section is well sourced with footnotes.

After perusing the entire list, I note that I have the following known ancestors on this list:

*  John Bigelow (1617-1703) of Watertown

*  John Grout (1609-1697) of Watertown and Sudbury

*  Daniel Morse (1611-1688) of Watertown, Dedham, Medfield and Sherborn

*  John Pike (1613-1689) of Ipswich, Newbury, Dalisbury, Woodbridge

*  Daniel Smith (1606-1660) of Watertown

*  George Woodward (1616-1676) of Watertown

There are quite a few children of my ancestors in the earlier generations on the list, and some of them are covered in the earlier The Great Migration compendiums by Robert Charles Anderson.

The full sketches are available to NEHGS members, and can be downloaded as a PDF file.

Hopefully, the full series, when completed, will have many more sketches of my ancestral families.  Maybe my descendants can enrich my work with information from those sketches.

This set of extensive biographical sketches of Early New England Families will be very useful and helpful to researchers with New England families listed in Torrey's New England Marriages books.

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Disclosure:  I am a current NEHGS member and have been since about 1994.  American Ancestors is my go-to site for most New England records, especially Massachusetts vital records and probate records.

The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2020/12/update-on-early-new-england-families.html

Copyright (c) 2020, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Share it on Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.