‘May we have strength’

American History, Family Stories, NEHGS Collections, , ,

PP231.236 Regina Shober Gray. Not dated.
Regina Shober Gray by [Edward L.] Allen, ca. 1860. Courtesy of the Maryland Historical Society, Item PP231.236
[Author’s note: This series of excerpts from Regina Shober Gray’s diary began here.]

The 1878 Gray diary[1] is unusual in filling two full volumes instead of the more usual single one Mrs. Gray devoted to the events in her life. Volume 1 ends with this entry, one that mixes hope and anxiety, sightseeing and sickbeds.

Hotel Monnet, Vevey,[2] Saturday, 3 August 1878: We left Berne yesterday morning (Friday), having really had, on Thursday, from 7½ to 8½ a.m., a full, magnificent view of the whole great range of snow-clad Alps [and] the Bernese Oberland; and a grand sight it was. There they were in their great, white glory, when I opened my shutters, and I rushed up two flights of stairs to call Mary & Sam [Gray], who felt well repaid for being so unceremoniously disturbed in their morning slumbers. Continue reading ‘May we have strength’ →

Remember the ladies

American History, News, , ,
Gertrude Janeway
Courtesy of Findagrave.com

Over the years I have had the honor of corresponding with veterans from the Spanish-American War, World War I, and World War II. But I must admit that corresponding and talking with some of the last widows of the Civil War was a highlight as a historian. It is hard for some now to comprehend that a widow of the Civil War could be living nearly 150 years after the start of the war, early in the twenty-first century. However there have been other widows who married very young to older veterans from previous wars with quite similar stories. Continue reading Remember the ladies →

A mappa mundi

NEHGS Collections, News,
A_Mappi Mundi _Hereford_Cathedral_at_NEHGS
The Society’s copy of the Mappa Mundi. Photo by Dani Torres

The Society has, hanging on its walls, a reproduction of the famous thirteenth-century Hereford Mappa Mundi, the original of which is in the collection of Hereford Cathedral in the west of England. A mappa mundi – from Medieval Latin mappa (cloth or chart) and mundi (of the world) – is any medieval European map of the world.  Approximately 1,100 of these maps are known to exist today, of which the Hereford Cathedral version is the largest. In fact, it’s the largest medieval map in the world. Continue reading A mappa mundi →

A Midwestern femme fatale

American History, News, Research Methods, , ,
Belle Gunness article
Image courtesy of the Kokomo Tribune.

We have a tendency to envision our ancestors as upstanding members of society.  In some cases, they were. In others, they were anything but. I first stumbled across Belle Gunness while researching the Midwestern ancestry of a client, and I’ve been disgusted and oddly intrigued by her ever since.

Belle Poulsdatter was born circa 1860 in Norway. She emigrated to America and settled in Chicago, Illinois, where she married Mads Anton Sorenson in 1884. The couple had several children, two of whom died under unusual circumstances.[1] Then, Mads Sorenson died suddenly on 30 July 1900. Continue reading A Midwestern femme fatale →

‘My ancestor the Indian Princess’

American History, Family Stories, Genealogical Writing, Research Methods, ,
Siekman 20
Pretty Nose at Fort Keogh in Montana (1879).

Many of us have family lore about an elusive Native ancestor somewhere far back on our family tree. Over the past year in Research Services we have received about a dozen formal requests to search for a Native ancestor and other inquiries over the phone. Often these requests are based on stories passed down through the generations or when DNA results display some Native American ancestry in an autosomal test.

As someone with a background in American Indian studies who has worked with Native nations in both New York and Arizona, I often struggle with how to respond to these inquiries in a meaningful way that is both respectful of living Native communities and to the individuals seeking information on whether or not their ancestors were a part of that history. Continue reading ‘My ancestor the Indian Princess’ →

Are we having fun yet?

American History, Family Stories, Genealogical Writing, Research Methods, , , ,

Alicia Crane WilliamsI am definitely regretting getting into the “ladies” sketches for the Early New England Families Study Project. While working on the sketch for William Lord of Saybrook, Connecticut, who had fifteen children by two wives, I recognized that his second wife also had at least one child by her first husband, John Brown of Swansea, which qualifies her for an Early New England Families sketch of her own. Continue reading Are we having fun yet? →

‘Supposed to be upright and prosperous’

Family Stories, NEHGS Collections,

[Author’s note: This series of excerpts from Regina Shober Gray’s diary began here.]

PP231.236 Regina Shober Gray. Not dated.
Regina Shober Gray by [Edward L.] Allen, ca. 1860. Courtesy of the Maryland Historical Society, Item PP231.236
While their European sojourn during the summer of 1878 represented a break from routine, the Gray party[1] welcomed news from home, even if some of it was rather disheartening:

Hotel Victoria, Interlaken, Friday, 26 July 1878: A dull, rainy day in very small, incommodious rooms – Mary [Gray]’s especially gloomy – the poorest hotel for its pretensions we have been in. We left Giessbach[2] yesterday – a clouded sail on Brienzer-See[3] – and 10 minutes rail road ride brought us here. We left the Linzee party at Giessbach, and find the Curtises left their hotel here for Bern several days ago.

A most welcome lot of letters, at least 2 doz., awaited us here after our fortnight’s letter-famine – encouraging letters from Drs. Brown & Bethune[4] to our dear Dr. [Gray], also from F.C.G., E.G, & H.G.;[5] and to me from R.G.,[6] R.P.W.,[7] S.F.G.,[8] [and] P.M.C.[9] Continue reading ‘Supposed to be upright and prosperous’ →

DNA and your pet

Research Methods, Technology, ,
Coco
Coco Braen

Perhaps you already know this, but out there in the World Wide Web there are many websites devoted to helping people discover their pet’s ancestral DNA.

With the technological advances in DNA testing, humans have started to use it more and more to help understand better where they come from and, especially from a genealogical stand point, to help supplement or sometimes define their ancestral research.

So why not do the same for your pet? Continue reading DNA and your pet →

Hunting for a church

American History, Collections, Genealogical Writing, Research Methods, , ,
First Presbyterian Church of Chester NY
The First Presbyterian Church of Chester, New York.

While working in the Ask-a-Genealogist questions last week, I found myself looking at questions on where to turn for records to prove the baptisms or residences of ancestors, which are actually rather typical. However, in offering guidance to these individuals, I realized how little the hunt was for the ancestor and how important the hunt for the church or town would be. Continue reading Hunting for a church →

Italian emigration to one Rhode Island town

American History, Family Stories, Genealogical Writing, , ,
Westerly image
Courtesy of the New York Public Library

Growing up in Westerly, Rhode Island, a town in which more than 30% of residents identify as having Italian ancestry, I was always surrounded by Italian culture.[1] To this day, many people from other towns are surprised to hear that my high school offered Italian language courses, a fairly uncommon option. Even fewer had heard of Soupy, the nickname for soppressata, the cured meat which originated in Calabria that hangs in the basements and attics of Westerly residents during certain times of the year. (The meat curing process requires outdoor temperatures of 45 to 55 degrees Fahrenheit.)[2] Continue reading Italian emigration to one Rhode Island town →