Renatus Press Has Intriguing Genealogy Research Articles About Their Descent From Pocahontas, and More

 I received an Ancestry message from Shawn and Lois Potter recently, inviting me to check out a web page on their website called Renatus Press. They have a number o published books about the Roman Catholic religion and their Virginia ancestry,

The lineage to Shawn Potter has a Seaver person in it, and they wanted to know if I was related to them on the Seaver line. I am not -- because Shawn descends from a Henry Seaver, a German immigrant to Virginia in the 1700s, and I descend from Robert Seaver (1608-1683) who came to Boston in 1634.

I was intrigued by what they showed me on their website, What was most intriguing me was that they are both descended from Chief Powhatan and his daughter Pocahontas.

I offered to write a blog post about their website and their Virginia research, and they agreed to that.  The web pages they wanted me to share are:

• Parents of Judith (c. 1712-aft. 1767) wife of John Williamson, Sr., (c. 1705-1757) – https://renatuspress.com/family/parents-of-judith-c-1712-aft-1767-wife-of-john-williamson-sr-c-1705-1757/

• Our Patawomeck Ancestors – https://renatuspress.com/family/our-patawomeck-ancestors/

• Timeline of Events in the Lives of Pocahontas and Kocoum – https://renatuspress.com/family/timeline-of-events-in-the-lives-of-pocahontas-and-kocoum/

• Biblical Greek – https://renatuspress.com/biblical-greek-2/

They noted:

"The last one contains information about our three Biblical Greek readers. During my studies at OSU, we learned about the importance of engaging in communication when learning a foreign language. How do you do that when learning a language like Biblical Greek? Read. But, reading is so difficult for students ... so we developed these readers that make reading and learning easy."

An interested reader can browse the website for much more information if they choose to!  They have a number of publications available on Amazon for low prices and they are also availe on a Kindle Reader.

In his email Shawn noted:  

"We are happy to share our work, and would be pleased if those who manage online trees -- like Wikitree and Geni -- would update their lineages according to our discoveries."

                          =========================================

Disclosure: I have received no remuneration to post this book notice. I thought it was intriguing and offered some free publicity for Shawn and Lois Potter.  

The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2026/02/renatus-press-has-intriguing-genealogy.html

Copyright (c) 2026, Randall J. Seaver

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Memories - What We Did On Our 1998 Mid-Atlantic States Vacation

I have found more of my memoirs that I wrote after some of our summer vacations, and many of them included genealogy highlights. So I'm going to share these memories in a series of posts.  Maybe I'll even find some photos to illustrate the posts.    

What We Did On Our 1998 Summer Vacation

Linda and I took an 18 day grand tour of the Middle Atlantic states, during which we visited Washington DC, Williamsburg VA, Charlottesville VA, Frederick MD, Gettysburg PA, York PA, Lancaster PA, Philadelphia PA, and Ellis and Liberty Islands, and Milford NJ. Whew...warm and humid everywhere! Lots of historic sights and sites, even some genealogy!  We flew in and out of Baltimore, and rented a car.

Washington DC was worth a week of our time. We stayed in Springfield VA (in order to reduce our costs) and rode the Metro into the city most days. The Metro took about 45 minutes into the Smithsonian area each way, but sure eased the access problems! It was very clean and efficient, as advertised.

We went to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum for a day - very impressive, yet it seemed small! I thought it would be all the world's airplanes/spacecraft, and it was only some! We took a guided tour and the docent was a retired aerospace guy. He had great stories about the Wright's and the early astronauts.

The Smithsonian Museum of American History was very disappointing to me: there was nothing addressing the colonial times, the Rev War, or the forces that led/drove our country to its formation. It seems to have just "happened". There was no over-arching sense of events, leaders, attitudes, forces. It's as if Jamestown, Plymouth, Roger Williams, Stuyvesant, Penn, Oglethorpe, Edwards, Washington, Jefferson, Madison, et al didn't exist! But there were the political correct exhibits about Indian displacement, slave holding, even a New Mexican exhibit from the 1500's. Nothing significant about immigration, westward migration, settlement of the West, etc. There were plenty of collections of stuff. There were some interesting exhibits about Thomas Edison and the Manhattan Project. The only mention of the Revolutionary War was a display about a storekeeper in Longmeadow MA who had his store ransacked because his prices were too high and he was thought to have loyalist tendencies. More PC.

The National Archives shows the Declaration of Independence and parts of the Constitution under green glass encased in helium - very difficult to read and the line was kept moving.

We took a bus tour of DC that promised the White House, Capitol, Lincoln and Washington monuments, Viet Nam/Korean War memorials, Smithsonian, and Arlington Cemetery. We went the day of John Gibson's funeral, so the order of events was modified. We drove past the Washington Monument, stopped at the Lincoln/Vietnam/Korean War area, and then stopped at Arlington. We walked to the JFK gravesite, then the Unknown Soldier/changing of the guard area. Then back on the bus, to lunch at the Smithsonian American History Museum (and we had to wait for the funeral to pass down Constitution Avenue). No White House tickets were available, so I walked around the WH and saw a bit of the film at the WH Visitor center. Then off to the Capitol, where we waited a while for tickets to enter, and got into the Rotunda and the lower halls of the Capitol, but not to the galleries. I did see Sen. Phil Gramm in the hallway. There were wreaths outside Tom DeLay's office. Nice artwork in the Rotunda and in the ceilings of the halls.

On a Sunday, we drove to the Jefferson Memorial, then up to the National Cathedral, down Mass Avenue past all the embassies, around the Capitol, over through Georgetown and finally into downtown Arlington for lunch.

Linda went to the Holocaust Museum, the old Post Office Building pavilion (nice photo opportunities at the top of the tower), and the Smithsonian Natural History Museum. She tried to go on an FBI building tour, but couldn't get in.

I spent two days in the Library of Congress doing genealogy research, but did not take the time to take a tour of the building.

Williamsburg VA was great. We saw most of the historic area, and went out to Carter's Grove, which was well done. We saw a play and a musical review in the evenings. We ate in two of the taverns, also. Jamestown was interesting - but we only went to the National Park and went on two ranger tours in the limited time.

We added Charlottesville at the last minute. Great decision, since Monticello was excellent! Very knowledgable docents, good displays, etc. We also visited the Luray Caverns - amazing!

Gettysburg was beautiful. We took a double-deck bus tour (two hours), which was narrated using headphones. It stopped at two places for photos and rest. I got the sense of the landscape, the strategy involved, and the movements of the forces. Then off to York PA, where I spent two hours in the York County Historical Society doing research. That night, the fire alarm went off in our Motel 6...yawn - false alarm.

We got to Philadelphia about noon, and went to the Visitor Center, had a Philly cheese steak sandwich, and then saw Independence Hall, Liberty Bell, and Franklin Court. The guide at Independence Hall was poor - didn't know some basic facts. Franklin Court was super - great displays and a good film about Franklin's life and times.

We stayed two nights with my cousin Jack (and his wife Joan) in the Milford NJ area. They have a beautiful farmhouse on 6 acres in Little York, with a stream and a deer herd nearby. They took us to see Ellis Island, and we saw the Statue of Liberty and the New York City skyline (new for me!) from the boat. Ellis Island was excellent - it really portrayed the experience well, I thought. Great photos, lots of personal stories.

Lancaster PA and the PA Dutch area were interesting, but very commercialized. We took a buggy ride and visited a number of shops. Great food!

Then it was back to the Baltimore airport and we flew home to San Diego.  Linda figured she could use some of the materials we gathered for her 4th grade class.

All through the trip I tried to stay abreast of the national news, and the status of my Padres. The Washington DC newspapers/airwaves were full of l'affaire Lewinsky, while the hinterlands paid little attention. TV at each hotel was spotty - some of them didn't have my favorite cable channels. The radio in the car didn't work (the antenna broke off the first day) so we cruised with the windows down through the countryside. People were very friendly and helpful - we enjoyed talking to other travelers and the folks at the sites we visited.

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The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2024/04/memories-what-we-did-on-our-1998-mid.html

Copyright (c) 2024, Randall J. Seaver

Note that all comments are moderated, and may not appear immediately.

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.

Added and Updated Ancestry.com Record Collections - Week of 6 to 12 January 2024

 The following genealogy record collections were listed on the Recently Added and Updated Collections on Ancestry.com during the period from 6 to 12 January 2024:

NOTE:  The "Recently Added and Updated Collections on Ancestry" page above for "All Countries" did not show all of the entries from the selected time period.  There were 7 other updated collections found on the "Date Updated" list, and one ADDED collection on the "Date Added" page of the Card Catalog.

The ADDED and Updated collections include:

*  Smyth County, Virginia, U.S., Births, 1879-1884; indexed records with record images, Updated 01/11/2024

*  Greene County, Virginia, U.S., Births, 1853-1871; indexed records with record images, Updated 01/11/2024

*  UK, Pension and Gratuity Records, 1860-1970; indexed records with record images, ADDED 01/11/2024

*  Scotland and Northern Ireland, Death Index, 1989-2022; indexed records with record images, Updated 01/11/2024

*  Craig County, Virginia, U.S., Births, 1853-1896; indexed records with record images, Updated 01/11/2024

*  Princess Anne County, Virginia, U.S., Births, 1853-1880; indexed records with record images, Updated 01/11/2024

*  England and Wales, Death Index, 1989-2022; indexed records with record images, Updated 01/11/2024

*  Shenandoah County, Virginia, U.S., Births, 1872-1877; indexed records without record images, Updated 01/10/2024

*  Powhatan County, Virginia, U.S., Births, 1853-1896; indexed records without record images, Updated 01/10/2024

*  Bland County, Virginia, U.S., Births 1861-1896; indexed records without record images, Updated 01/10/2024

*  Shenandoah County, Virginia, U.S., Births, 1878-1890; indexed records without record images, Updated 01/10/2024

*  Shenandoah County, Virginia, U.S., Births, 1891-1896; indexed records without record images, Updated 01/10/2024

*  Washington County, Virginia, U.S., Births, 1889-1896; indexed records without record images, Updated 01/10/2024

*  Shenandoah County, Virginia, U.S., Births, 1853-1871; indexed records without record images, Updated 01/10/2024

*  James City County, Virginia, U.S., Birth Records, 1853-1896; indexed records without record images, Updated 01/10/2024

*  Frederick County, Virginia, U.S., Birth Records, 1855-1896; indexed records without record images, Updated 01/10/2024

*  Botetourt County, Virginia, U.S., Births, 1885-1896; indexed records without record images, Updated 01/10/2024

*  Queensland, Australia, Seamen Register Indexes, 1882-1919; indexed records without record images, ADDED 01/10/2024

*  Caroline County, Virginia, U.S., Births, 1870-1880; indexed records without record images, Updated 01/10/2024

*  Mecklenburg County, Virginia, U.S., Birth Records, 1866-1885; indexed records without record images, Updated 01/10/2024

*  Ontario, Canada, Marriages, 1826-1939; indexed records with record images, Updated 01/10/2024

*  Bath County, Virginia, U.S., Births 1853-1896; indexed records without record images, Updated 01/09/2024

*  Augusta County, Virginia Births, 1862-1875; indexed records without record images, Updated 01/09/2024

*  Alexandria County, Virginia Births, 1865-1896; indexed records without record images, Updated 01/09/2024

*  Chesterfield County, Virginia Births, 1892-1896; indexed records without record images, Updated 01/09/2024

*  Highland County, Virginia, U.S., Birth Records, 1853-1896; indexed records without record images, Updated 01/09/2024

*  Accomack County, Virginia Births, 1874-1877; indexed records without record images, Updated 01/09/2024

*  Poland, Łódź and Gliwice Jewish Registration Cards, 1945-1946 (USHMM); indexed records without record images, ADDED 01/08/2024

*  Zwierzyniec, Poland, Vowinckel & Richtberg Employment Cards, 1942 (USHMM); indexed records without record images, ADDED 01/08/2024

*  Gliwice, Poland, Jewish Population Cards, 1933-1942 (USHMM); indexed records without record images, ADDED 01/08/2024

*  Lublin, Poland, Confiscated Jewish Properties, 1940-1944 (USHMM); indexed records without record images, ADDED 01/08/2024

*  Poland, Registration Cards of Jewish Children, 1945-1949 (USHMM); indexed records without record images, ADDED 01/08/2024

*  Chernivtsi, Ukraine, Czernowitz Oblast Archives Records, 1941-1944 (USHMM); indexed records without record images, ADDED 01/08/2024

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The complete Ancestry.com Card Catalog is at   https://search.ancestry.com/search/CardCatalog.aspx.  

By my count, there were 8 NEW record collections ADDED this past week, per the list above.  There are now 33,402 collections available as of 12 January, an INCREASE of 8 from last week.  

                              ==============================================

Disclosure: I receive a complimentary all-access subscription from Ancestry.com, for which I am thankful. Ancestry.com has provided material considerations for travel expenses to meetings, and has hosted events and meals that I have attended in Salt Lake City, in past years.

The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2024/01/added-and-updated-ancestrycom-record_12.html

Copyright (c) 2024, Randall J. Seaver

Please note that all Comments are moderated so they may not appear immediately.  

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.

Chula Vista Genealogical Society Meeting on Wednesday, 24 November Features J. Mark Lowe

                 Wednesday, 24 November 2021, 12 noon PST

CVGS General Meeting (in a Zoom Video Conference)

"Researching Colonial Virginia & Kentucky from Home”

presented by J. Mark Lowe

Learn about the records that exist for genealogists researching pre-statehood Virginia & Kentucky. Record types, finding aids, locations, and examples will be discussed and presented, including the records that transcend the development of Kentucky county, Virginia to the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1792.

J. Mark Lowe describes himself as a lifelong genealogist. He is a professional genealogist, author, and lecturer who specializes in original records and manuscripts throughout the South. Mark enjoys opportunities to share what he has learned over the years through YouTube, Webinars, and Institutes. He is the Course Coordinator for - “Research in the South” at the IGHR, TIGR and SLIG week-long institutes.

Attendance is free but only 100 Zoom seats are available, so please register soon.

This program will be held online using the Zoom video conferencing platform for Meetings. A Zoom meeting invitation will be sent via email to CVGS members on 22 November.  Please note that the meeting starts at 12 noon Pacific Standard Time (3 p.m. Eastern time, 2 p.m. Central time, 1 p.m. Mountain time).  The Zoom Meeting room will be open by 11:45 a.m. for visiting and helping attendees connect.

This invitation is available to non-members by registering at    https://chulavistagenealogysociety.wildapricot.org/event-4561162.  If you register before Tuesday morning, you will receive an email on Tuesday with the link to JOIN.  Attendance is limited to 100 attendees.  Contact randy.seaver@gmail.com if you have problems or register too late for the email.

NOTE:  The Chula Vista Genealogical Society offers an email membership of $10 per year for distant members (outside of San Diego County, California).  Besides the monthly General Meeting with a program on last Wednesdays, there is a monthly Research Group meeting on second Wednesdays and a DNA Interest Group meeting on the third Wednesdays, plus a monthly 10-page email newsletter chock full of program announcements, research tips and program reviews.

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The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2021/11/chula-vista-genealogical-society.html

Copyright (c) 2021, 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.

Tuesday's Genealogy Tip - Access 28 Genealogy Periodical Collections on AmericanAncestors.org

This week's Tuesday's Genealogy Tip is:  Access 28 different digitized genealogical periodical collections on the NEHGS' AmericanAncestors.org website.

One of the best bargains in the genealogy subscription world for me is a membership in the New England Historic Genealogical Society, which includes access to all of the digitized records and periodicals on the www.AmericanAncestors.org website.

After logging in with my membership credentials, I clicked on the Search > Databases links and selected "Advanced Search" which permitted me to select "Journals and Periodical" in the "Category" field.  I then clicked on the dropdown menu arrow for the "Database" field and saw the list of available periodicals that are searchable:

The remainder of the list is below:

The digitized periodicals available include:

*  American Ancestors Journal
*  American Ancestors Magazine
*  The American Genealogist
*  Connecticut Nutmegger
*  Deaths in the Christian Intelligencer (Reformed Dutch Church), 1830-1871

*  Deaths Recorded in the Boston Recorder and Telegraph, 1827 and 1828
*  Essex Antiquarian
*  The Essex Genealogist
*  Irish Immigrant Advertisements, 1831-1920 (Search for Missing Friends)
*  The Maine Genealogist

*  Marriage and Death Notices Published in New Hampshire Newspapers
*  Marriages and Deaths from the Springfield (MA) Republican, 1847
*  Marriages and Deaths in New York State from the New Canaan (CT) Era
*  Marriages in the Boston Recorder and Telegraph, 1827 and 1828
*  Marriages in the Christian Intelligencer (Reformed Dutch Church), 1830-1871

*  The Mayflower Descendant
*  NEHGS NEXUS: New England Across the United States
*  New England Ancestors Magazine
*  New England Historical and Genealogical Register
*  New Hampshire Gazette: Vital Records, 1756-1800

*  New Netherland Connections
*  New York Genealogical and Biographical Record
*  Otsego County, NY: Newspaper Records
*  Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine
*  Portsmouth, N.H.: Abstracts from Newspapers, 1776-1800

*  Records of Deaths and Marriages from the Albany Argus, 1826-1828
*  Rhode Island Roots
*  The Virginia Genealogist

Not every year is available for some of the periodicals listed above.

I put "seaver" in the surname field of the search form, and received 11,767 matches (not exact) for the Journals and Periodicals category (two screens below):
:

On the left-hand side is the list of different categories, including Journals and Periodicals.  From this list, I can see that there are, for instance, 4,499 matches in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register.  There were 2,329 matches in The Mayflower Descendant.

I selected The Mayflower Descendant and changed my search terms to "william" and "sever" and found 32 matches:

This collection of journals and periodicals is a gold mine for New England researchers (except for Vermont), and to a certain extent, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia researchers also.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/07/tuesdays-genealogy-tip-access-28.html

Copyright (c) 2015, 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.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

Tuesday's Tip - Check Out FamilySearch's Virginia Collections

This week's Tuesday's Tip is for Virginia lovers -- Check out the FamilySearch record collections for online Virginia databases.

There are 14 different record collections online on the FamilySearch record collection page.  If you put "virginia" into the search filter (upper left-hand corner) you'll get 23 matches, but 9 of them are for West Virginia:

The 14 record collections available for Virginia include:

*  Virginia Births and Christenings, 1853-1917 (1,991,095 indexed records, no images)

*  Virginia, Civil War Service Records of Confederate Soldiers, 1861-1865 (2,252,877 indexed records, with images)

*  Virginia, Civil War Service Records of Union Soldiers, 1861-1865 (15,639 indexed records, with images)

*  Virginia, Danville City Cemetery Records, 1833-2006 (browse images only)

*  Virginia, Deaths and Burials, 1853-1912 (611,127 indexed records, no images)

*  Virginia, Fluvanna County Colbert Funeral Home Records, 1929-1976 (browse images only)

*  Virginia, Freedmen's Bureau Letters or Correspondence, 1865-1872 (834,422 indexed records, with images)

*  Virginia, Historical Society Papers, 1607-2007 (17,449 indexed records, with images)

*  Virginia, Isle of Wight County Records, 1647-1917 (browse images only)

*  Virginia Marriages, 1785-1940 (1,219,044 indexed records, no images)

*  Virginia, Naturalization Petitions, 1906-1929 (browse images only)

*  Virginia, Orange County Marriage Records, 1757-1938 (11,823 indexed records, with images)

*  Virginia, Surry County Marriage Records, 1735-1950 (18,329 indexed records, with images)

*  Virginia, Winchester, Evening Star Obituaries, 1899-1909 (5,819 indexed records, with images).

There are several unique record collections on this list.  If you have Virginia ancestry, have you checked all of them that are in the location and time frame that you are researching?

Hopefully, FamilySearch will add Land Records and Probate Records to this collection list at some point in time.  When that happens, I think that many research problems will be solved if researchers take the time to search them for their ancestors.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/05/tuesdays-tip-check-out-familysearchs.html

copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver