Martha Anne (Kuhn) Clarke kept a diary in 1836, while a student at the Temple School in Boston. The series of excerpts began here and continued here and here. In this installment she writes about the conclusion of a journey around New England. Continue reading Excerpts from Martha Anne Kuhn’s diary, 1836
Category Archives: Family Stories
Mothers-in-law and “new print” searches
Complementing my last post about researching other spouses of spouses, this week we add mothers-in-law. No sooner had the new Early New England Families Study Project sketch on William Hilton been posted when a sharp observer (“Westtrack”) wrote in with a correction. The maiden name of Sarah (Greenleaf) Hilton’s mother should be Sara/Sarah “More,” rather than “Dole.” First, I am very grateful for all the “eyes” out there helping to constantly improve these sketches (a revised version has been submitted for posting). Next, we need to examine where I missed this red flag. Continue reading Mothers-in-law and “new print” searches
Revelations from my recliner: Part One
I recently spent a week at home, recovering from foot surgery. With time off from work, I turned to genealogical work of another kind: my own family history. I began crafting an ahnentafel for my father, George Rohrbach. When I got to number 7, I got stuck . . . again.
Number 7 is my great-grandmother, Orella Turnbull, born in Bellaire, Belmont County, Ohio — across the river from Wheeling, West Virginia — in 1856. She married George Turnbull, born in England in 1857. Their first child, Sylvia May Turnbull, was my grandmother. Continue reading Revelations from my recliner: Part One
Excerpts from Martha Anne Kuhn’s diary, 1836
Martha Anne (Kuhn) Clarke kept a diary in 1836, while a student at the Temple School in Boston. The series of excerpts began here and continued here. In this installment she writes of her journey through western Massachusetts and into New York. Continue reading Excerpts from Martha Anne Kuhn’s diary, 1836
Notes on a Wolf family reunion
I arrived last fall at the New England Historic Genealogical Society as a neophyte in family research and I still consider myself one. My position as NEHGS Publications Coordinator, however, has given me some insight into which publications are go-to resources for genealogists and family researchers, and I’m now familiar with translating findings into Register style and the ahnentafel format. I’ve also heard many interesting stories related to unexpected findings and brick wall breakthroughs, particularly when talking with participants in our Writing & Publishing Seminar this past May. Continue reading Notes on a Wolf family reunion
A suspicious first cousin
One day a few years ago, my mother (who was 85 at the time) got a phone call from a young lady who said “Hello, I think I’m your cousin!” Mom, who was well aware of and always on the lookout for scams, immediately assumed that this was just one more. The caller said that she was the great-granddaughter of my mother’s father’s sister, ‘Louisa.’ Mom, who knew all of her father’s siblings, had visited the family regularly in Detroit when she was a child and never met or even heard of an aunt with that name. Continue reading A suspicious first cousin
Excerpts from Martha Anne Kuhn’s diary, 1836
Martha Anne (Kuhn) Clarke kept a diary in 1836, while a student at the Temple School in Boston. The series of excerpts began here. In this installment she writes of her last days at school and the beginning of a trip out to the western part of Massachusetts. Continue reading Excerpts from Martha Anne Kuhn’s diary, 1836
Online family histories, old and new
The NEHGS Digital Library and Archive has a growing collection of family histories, covering a wide range of subjects and surnames. Roughly three quarters of the 137 titles currently in the collection are older books from the stacks of the NEHGS Library – usually published before 1923, and now free from copyright restrictions – which have been digitized and put online. Examples of materials that have been digitized from our collection so far include: Continue reading Online family histories, old and new
Other spouses of spouses
Five new Early New England Families Study Project sketches have just been posted: Continue reading Other spouses of spouses
Family centenarians
From time to time I undertake some light housekeeping on my genealogical notes, and lately I have focused on collecting stray family names and dates. My flirtation with Google continues, since an organized approach to entire family groups has yielded great dividends. I’ve also spent time on Ancestry.com exploring the (often unsourced) family trees, ones kept by my distant cousins or their cousins, which can provide clues about what became of an uncle’s widow once she remarried and moved beyond the ken of the record-keepers on my side of the family. Continue reading Family centenarians